Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the release of dozens of prisoners accused of killing American troops, due to a lack of evidence.
According to Afghan officials, 72 detainees held near Bagram Air Base will be released in accordance with the legal procedure as the American and Afghan security officials could not produce evidence proving their involvement in killing US troops.
US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki criticised the release calling it an undermining of justice under Afghan law.
She said that the detainees being freed were “dangerous criminals, against whom there is strong evidence linking them to terror-related crimes, including the use of improvised explosive devices, the largest killer of Afghan civilians.”
Previously, American officials had warned that the release would violate an agreement on detainees reached last year. However, Thursday’s initial response was cautious, “We don’t tie it to B.S.A.,” one Obama administration official said, referring to the security agreement and noting that it was a “separate deal,” while speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The move threatens to plunge the Afghan-US relations to a new state of crisis while a long-term agreement between the two countries has been held up for weeks as Karzai put conditions to sign a bilateral security deal that would approve a US military presence after the withdrawal of most foreign troops this year.
On Thursday, an American official quoted Ambassador James B. Cunningham saying that he did not think Karzai would agree to sign the accord before Afghanistan’s elections in April.
